During the filming of the program, guests were not allowed to use their phones. Earlier, when Hu Li left, he didn’t mention where he was going.
Even he didn’t know Hu Li’s whereabouts, how could Hu Feifei confidently claim that Hu Li was still at the beach?
Unless she could sense Hu Li’s location through some extraordinary means.
Moreover, although her tone seemed gentle, her attitude conveyed strength and a hint of defiance.
Why was she so eager to snatch the task of killing the pheasant? What was she really plotting?
Upon thinking this, Jing Li’s gaze towards Hu Feifei instantly took on a scrutinizing look.
However, he didn’t say much, pretending to know nothing as he smiled and extended the pheasant he was holding towards her, his expression gentle, “I guess I’ll have to trouble you, then?”
“No problem.” Seeing him finally agree, a hint of delight flashed in Hu Feifei’s lowered eyes, but her face remained demure as she reached out to take the pheasant from Jing Li.
Yet, just as her hand touched the pheasant’s wing, Jing Li suddenly let go, as if by accident. The pheasant, momentarily free, immediately flapped its wings, struggling to escape towards the ground.
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t notice…” Jing Li looked at her apologetically, making a move to catch the pheasant again.
However, Hu Feifei was faster, swiftly grabbing the pheasant’s neck before he could speak, her hand leaving an afterimage with its inhuman speed.
“F*ck!” Ling Mei exclaimed in shock, quickly covering her mouth in embarrassment when she remembered they were filming. Smiling awkwardly at the camera, she explained, “Sorry, a slip of the tongue. I was just too stunned to notice.”
As she said that, she turned to look at Hu Feifei, watching her holding the pheasant’s neck in surprise. Then Hu Feifei touched the pheasant’s wings, folded them together, and held them in her hands. Ling Mei said sincerely, “I believe you now when you said you often help out at your family’s farm. With that speed, it was like a blur of movement, and suddenly you had the pheasant’s neck in your grasp.”
“Maybe it’s just from doing it so often,” Hu Feifei softly explained, somewhat embarrassed.
“Ah, I see. Practice makes perfect!” Ling Mei nodded in realization, then joked, “But that’s practically a special skill! If the online fans saw that, you might just become a trending topic!”
Whether or not she would trend, the live audience was certainly stunned by her swift movement.
“What the hell? Is that even human speed? I saw an afterimage through the screen!”
“At first, I thought Hu Feifei volunteered to kill the pheasant for show, but now it seems like she’s just experienced?”
“Just that movement alone, how many pheasants did she have to kill to practice it?”
…
The subject of discussion, Hu Feifei, merely smiled shyly in response, choosing not to answer.
However, when she lowered her eyelids, her peripheral vision cautiously glanced toward the nearby Jing Li. Seeing no strange expression on his face, she discreetly averted her gaze.
Jing Li indeed did not react much, because after that probing attempt, he had already formed a general understanding in his heart.
Hu Feifei was definitely not an ordinary person, or rather, not human.
Although he did not sense any aura of a demonic spirit from her, and the power of faith above her head seemed normal, he had always trusted his intuition.
With this in mind, Hu Feifei’s timid and meek personality became questionable. He even began to doubt if she had intentionally caused his accidental fall from the helicopter earlier and, if so, what her motive might be.
Countless thoughts raced through Jing Li’s mind, but with the limited information at hand, he could not draw any conclusions yet.
He planned to ask Hu Li about the details of the helicopter incident when he returned, to shed some light on the situation.
“It’s getting late, I’ll start the fire first.” Jing Li smiled as if nothing was amiss, quickly making his way to the cleared area they had prepared earlier.
Hu Feifei watched him crouch down to gather dry leaves for the fire, then told Ling Mei she would deal with the pheasant, carrying it further into the woods.
Left alone, Ling Mei had nothing to do, so she followed Jing Li and squatted beside him, observing him start the fire while cleaning the fresh mushrooms they had gathered.
During a pause while making the fire, Jing Li glanced at Ling Mei, a thought crossing his mind. “How did you two think of gathering mushrooms? I remember they grow in damp environments. You must have gone quite far, right?”
“Not too far,” Ling Mei casually replied as she removed dirt from the mushrooms. “We were initially collecting kindling in the woods when Feifei mentioned her family used to go mushroom picking in the mountains. It sounded interesting, so we figured we’d try our luck, and we actually found quite a lot.”
“I see.” Jing Li smiled without further comment, but his expression grew more pensive as he lowered his head.
He suspected that Hu Feifei had first heard the pheasant’s flapping and decided to go mushroom picking on a whim, even bringing back honey.
After all, if she were a demonic spirit, her hearing and sense of smell would be far more sensitive than ordinary humans’, and they would continue to improve as their cultivation level increased.
The question remained: what was she plotting with such meticulous scheming?
Was he the target first, then Hu Li?
Jing Li narrowed his eyes slightly, boldly speculating that Hu Feifei might have already known about their identities as demonic spirits beforehand, which is why she deliberately approached them.
Regardless of her reasons, it would be best not to harbor any ill intentions towards them.
With a calm expression, Jing Li picked up some dry twigs and leaves, lighting them with a lighter and placing them under the kindling pile he had assembled.
Starting a fire was no difficulty for him, and since the gathered kindling was thoroughly dry, it soon caught ablaze.
As they worked, Hu Li and Su Mengran, who had gone to forage for food, returned.
From afar, Jing Li heard Hu Li’s boisterous laughter.
“Hahahahaha, Jing Li, come see what great stuff your brother got for you!”
Jing Li looked up calmly to see Hu Li carrying a large plastic bucket in one hand and a bag of what seemed to be seaweed in the other. Behind him, Su Mengran was shouldering a large pail of drinking water, his face flushed from exertion.
Perhaps due to exhaustion, Su Mengran appeared rather low-spirited.
So they had indeed gone into the sea?
Jing Li raised his brows slightly and quickly stood up to greet them. “Where did you get the bucket and plastic bag?”
He remembered the basic supplies provided by the crew didn’t include these items.
“I asked the crew for them,” Hu Li stated matter-of-factly, joking, “If they’re not giving us extra food, they can at least give us a bucket, right?”
Jing Li smiled without comment, reaching out to take the plastic bucket from Hu Li’s hand and peeking inside. He exclaimed in surprise, “Looks like your harvest is quite rich!”
Sea urchins, sea cucumbers, abalones… all kinds of seafood filled up half the bucket, with a few fish mixed in between.
They were all already cleaned and soaked in fresh water.
“I’ll carry it.” Hu Li ignored his remark, attempting to shift the bucket behind him while cautiously glancing at Jing Li’s expression, afraid of offending his friend by revealing the captured seafood.
Although he refrained from catching too many fish out of consideration, Su Mengran had luckily managed to snag several during their foraging.
However, Jing Li did not react as complexly as Hu Li had imagined. Although they were both fish, he ate fish as well.
Noticing Hu Li’s apprehension, Jing Li didn’t argue and simply said with a smile, “Then I’ll take the seaweed.”
Jing Li spoke as he reached for the plastic bag of seaweed in Hu Li’s other hand.
This time, Hu Li didn’t hesitate, voluntarily handing over the entire bag of seaweed to him.
As they walked back, Jing Li glanced behind at Su Mengran and smiled, “Is that fresh water Su Mengran is carrying? Also obtained from the crew?”
Su Mengran looked at him briefly before nodding silently.
“What do you mean ‘obtained’?” Hu Li chuckled, glancing at Jing Li. “On our way to the beach, we happened to spot a freshwater river, so we asked the crew for a pail and brought some water back.”
“The emergency supplies included a small pot, right? If we want to boil something later, we can use the water.”
By the time their conversation ended, they had placed the plastic bucket beside the fire. Ling Mei, having finished prepping the mushrooms, stood up and peeked into the bucket, letting out an exaggerated exclamation. “You guys actually went back to the beach and got all this seafood? Wow, you’re incredible!”
“I feel so fortunate to be on your team, really.”
The group bantered as they began preparing lunch together. Just as they divided the seafood into the small pot to boil, Hu Li suddenly sniffed the air. “Why do I keep smelling chicken?”
Earlier on the way, he had caught a faint whiff, thinking it was his imagination. But now, the scent grew increasingly potent, impossible to ignore.
The other three froze before Ling Mei burst into laughter. “Your nose is that sensitive? Jing Li did bring back a pheasant, and Feifei went to prepare it.”
She glanced around, adding, “She should be back soon.”
Sure enough, shortly after she spoke, Hu Feifei emerged from the forest depths, carrying the pheasant.
Ling Mei called out to her, stepping forward to take the chicken while marveling, “Feifei, you’re amazing. You even plucked all the feathers clean!”
Hu Feifei smiled shyly, handing over the chicken as they returned to the fire pit.
The others had formed a circle around the fire, and Hu Feifei noticed an empty spot beside Su Mengran. She quietly took the seat without a word.
However, for some reason, Su Mengran suddenly shifted away from her. During the move, he stumbled forward because of the excessive range of motion, and he stabilized his body by putting his hands on the ground.
The other people next to him were stunned for a moment.
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